SOTA c36s02
Text By morning, most of the ponies had been tended to, and many of them were now asleep. But just before dawn, those who had yet to rest gathered in the throne room for a story: Princess Celestia, Freya, Brynhild, Scrivener, Cadence, and both Twilight Sparkles... and of course, Nightmare Moon. The dark, enormous pony had found herself a blue, swirling cape, and seemed to almost be wearing it in imitation of Celestia: for Brynhild, this was all the reassurance she needed that things were going to be okay, and she thought she had already begun to put things together as Nightmare Moon smiled at her, the two sitting silently across from one-another before the Twilight Sparkle of this layer asked almost desperately from beside drained-looking Cadence: “But I thought... we... the Elements of Harmony...” “The Elements of Harmony flushed my system, yes. I was healed... but...” Nightmare Moon reached up and touched her chest silently. “Luna was who I was when I was young. Much younger... Nightmare Moon is who I became, and who I am now. Look at us, like twins...” Nightmare Moon laughed quietly, gazing tenderly over at Princess Celestia, bumping gently against her, and Celestia flushed and looked down almost as if ashamed, even as the dark winged unicorn continued: “But I do not blame you. The ring suppressed not only my magic, but hid my nature. My sister did not believe at first that I was sane... that I was not Nightmare Moon, seeking to take over by deceit and trickery. But I am Luna, and I am Nightmare Moon. There was only ever one of us... it was just that... I lost control of myself before. I won't again. You don't have to be afraid of me, no matter what I look like, Twilight Sparkle... I am still the same Luna. But I think... you have learned this, haven't you?” Twilight Sparkle was silent, and then she quietly looked over at the version of herself from Looking Glass World... drew her eyes silently over the stitching across her bare chest, used to help hold shut awful-looking wounds... and then the purple unicorn closed her eyes, swallowed thickly, and simply nodded once. Nightmare Moon smiled softly in visible relief, closing her eyes as well, and Princess Celestia said quietly: “Sister... sister, I'm sorry. I... I thought... I was so afraid. I thought that... and... I never just let myself trust...” “It's not like you to be unable to find the right words, Celestia. But I think that maybe reassures me most of all.” Nightmare Moon said softly, smiling over at her sibling, and the Princess of the Sun laughed a little despite herself, shifting a bit. Then Nightmare Moon paused before looking towards Freya, who was smiling softly at her. “And you. What a strange Celestia you are. So quiet, not judging me, happy for me... but I imagine I must seem like a very soft Nightmare Moon compared to what I imagine Brynhild must have become.” “Hold now, monster! I am far fiercer than Nightmare Moon, I shall have thee know.” Luna Brynhild retorted imperiously, holding her head high, and Nightmare Moon laughed and shook her head before smiling in warm relief, and Luna gazed back with something almost like affection in her eyes before she asked hesitantly: “So thou art... thou art truly alright? No megalomania, thy mind neither too childlike nor too cruel and ancient? There are no wicked voices, there is only... thou, in body Nightmare Moon, in mind Luna?” For a few moments, Nightmare Moon looked down thoughtfully, and then she reached up a hoof and rubbed at her features in a meditative gesture, and Luna smiled knowingly before winking over at the Lich Twilight. “Now, sweet Twilight... or Morgan, rather... thou knows that look, does thou not? For I certainly do... 'twas when I discovered I was not merely Luna, but Brynhild. Now, if I may be so bold as to make a suggestion, Nightmare Luna is an awful name, as are any other wild combinations thou might try to make from them both. But even though thou art two of old mixed into one of new... 'tis the new that is important. Thou deserves a new name.” Nightmare Moon looked up at this, thoughtful, as her mane swirled slowly over her features. Then she smiled over at her sister, studying the Princess of the Sun before asking softly: “What would you suggest, big sister? And Cadence, and Twilight... and all of you here. You are all important to me. I think you have all played a role in freeing me...” “Oh, I am no good at names. 'Twas always Freya who came up with the names, from her silly Yamato to the Starlit Knights.” Luna said absently, and Nightmare Moon looked up with interest at this, brightening visibly. “Starlit Night... yes. I like it, and if it pays honor to something from your world, then it's all the better.” the dark-coated equine said thoughtfully, and Luna grinned brightly as Scrivener and Twilight Morgan shared dry looks. Freya shrugged, and newly-christened Starlit Night smiled over at Princess Celestia, who was trying to force a supportive smile on her face. “What do you think?” “If... if it makes you happy. I'm... I'm not going to try and force your hoof any longer, Luna... I mean, Starlit Night.” Celestia said finally, and the black-coated winged unicorn smiled warmly as the Princess of the Sun sighed a little, then softened and added quietly: “You've proven you know better than I do, after all. And you saved us, all of us, from... that monster.” “Aye, 'twas... well done, I must admit. Although that is not to say I would not have mastered Thesis, given time.” Luna added hurriedly, and then she shifted a little and became more serious, glancing over at Freya even as the ponies of this layer smiled at her. “But on the matter of Thesis...” “I'm not sure. First we have to heal, either way... we were lucky to have been able to drive Cheshire off. I owe my life to Discombobulation.” Celestia Freya said softly, reaching up and slowly rubbing at the bandages that covered her chest, and Twilight Morgan couldn't help but smile faintly: Celestia was covered in bruises and cuts and bandages and reeked of peppermint from the salve they had slathered her heavily with, and yet she was holding herself up as well as any of them. Slowly, the Lich looked around, taking in the state of the others: she herself had all kinds of extra stitching, but she was healing remarkably fast in spite of still feeling a little sore, and a little... strange. It was probably because of the positive energies in the air... but Luna and Scrivener were both covered in wounds, and Scrivener's newly-shattered hoof was wrapped in heavy bandaging, and neither of them could heal as quickly as she did or pull in energy from the air. Cadence had been completely sapped from getting thrown into the barrier, and Princess Celestia had several large magic burns over her face and neck, and her body had been battered. And even the Twilight of this layer had her own share of bandaging, and one particularly-nasty wound on her leg had required some heavy suturing. She knew the others were in varying states of health, too: the worst hurt was Rainbow Dash, with a broken skull. She was unconscious but not comatose, and until she woke up they couldn't be sure of the extent of the damage. The hope was that it was only the broken skull... The Lich forced these thoughts away. It wasn't helpful right now, as she instead focused on Celestia Freya, as the mare continued in a quiet voice: “Running in to try and attack Thesis in his own territory won't do anything but put ourselves in danger right now. Even at full strength, I'm not sure that we could secure a victory... and furthermore, there's no guarantee we could even find where Thesis has been operating out of.” “I also sent him to the moon.” Starlit Night said helpfully, and Luna Brynhild looked thoughtfully at this version of herself as Freya smiled a little despite her best efforts not to. “Unfortunately, we don't know what Thesis himself is capable of, but we do know that he has very powerful allies. One of these is a death entity that's bound to serve him. It will be able to locate him and likely bring him out of exile with little difficulty. I wouldn't be surprised if Thesis has already returned to his base of operations...” Celestia Freya halted, looking down thoughtfully. “But that makes me question why he hasn't attacked again already, or used Kismet to steal souls.” Luna frowned at this, then she said thoughtfully: “Well, Freya... remember Appleloosa? Kismet defended Thesis, but there too he did not do any of his... dirty work, so to speak. He even spoke out against what Thesis is doing...” Freya nodded slowly, and Princess Celestia frowned a little, asking uncertainly: “But a death entity... this death entity in particular is the enemy, isn't he? He works for your opponent...” She stopped, then sighed a little at the look Starlit Night gave her, even as the unicorn Twilight looked up attentively and Cadence tilted her own head with interest. “Of course. Of course, I understand. It's just a strange concept... it's not that I don't believe in giving second chances...” She shifted, as if expecting some barb or jibe, but Starlit Night only smiled at her gently, and the Princess of the Sun laughed a little as she murmured: “I'm sorry. I guess... I'm more self-conscious than you are right now, little sister, even if I know that doesn't even make any sense.” “Oh well, if thou requires someone to make mockery of thee for thy choices, I am glad to fill in. 'Tis incredibly stupid that thou would give Discord a second chance but cling to the babyfication of thy sister so tightly, after all, unless thou has some freakish, terrifying fetish that would have been better left never to see the light of day.” Luna Brynhild said mildly, and Princess Celestia closed her eyes slowly as both Twilights stared, Scrivener dropped his face in his hooves, and Cadence – surprisingly – turned to try and hide her giggles. The black-coated winged unicorn looked thoughtful at this as her starry mane swirled around her head, and then she looked across at Luna and asked curiously: “Did your sister ever do the same thing to you, Brynhild? You sound like you're speaking from experience.” “Many times.” Brynhild nodded solemnly, even as her nose twitched a bit, and Freya sighed tiredly before the sapphire mare smiled slightly and glanced over at her older sibling. “But I will tell thee this, too: now that my sister and I have worked out our rough edges... we have never been closer than we are these days, even if at times we still... grind together uncomfortably.” She paused, then grinned slightly and winked. “But I have never been one to mind such grinding.” Twilight Morgan sighed, Scrivener simply kept his head in his hooves, and Cadence tried harder not to giggle before Freya remarked calmly: “I only wish that when it came to bumping and grinding, little sister, you weren't always so desperate to end up on top.” All eyes stared at her for a moment, and then Luna and Starlit Night both began to giggle, but it was Cadence who broke down into outright laughter first. But the other ponies shortly followed, until everyone was laughing... and much of it was with relief at the fact that everything had turned out okay after all. When things finally calmed down, Freya looked back and forth for a few moments before saying finally: “We watch and we wait. I have a feeling that no matter what happens next, we're going to get a sign of it before it happens. Kismet, or perhaps another messenger... Thesis seems to play by a particular rulebook, even if his behavior is... strange.” The others all nodded, Luna Brynhild looking down thoughtfully before Freya smiled a little, adding quietly: “But please excuse us. I need rest, and to be entirely honest, I'd like to spend some time with Discombobulation. In fact, if I may be so bold, I think we could all use some rest right now. It was a hard battle, and we've earned this reprieve, however long or short it may be.” “They're right, sister. Let them go, and you sleep as well. I'll watch over the Crystal Kingdom for now, and summon you all if anything happens.” Starlit Night said softly, and the other ponies smiled after a moment at the black-coated winged-unicorn, who smiled honestly as she stood and her cape swirled around her slowly. “And all of you... thank you again. It was a long time I was trapped... but I'm free now, and happy to be free. And more importantly, it wasn't a terrible time... I have... quite a few good memories, surprisingly. I may have learned much more than I would have being free from the beginning.” She laughed quietly, then looked back and forth as the other ponies all stood, before the Lich cursed under her breath and shifted embarrassedly when some of her stitching popped. The other Twilight looked surprised, and at first the Lich began to shift away self-consciously, before she was surprised as the unicorn asked worriedly: “Are you okay?” Twilight Morgan hesitated, then smiled faintly and simply nodded, saying quietly: “I am, yeah. Don't worry, it's... it's nothing, really. I just need to do a few more repairs, I guess, and check my body over. I may have missed some damage.” “Please, let me help.” Cadence said softly, and Brynhild and Scrivener both smiled at this as the Lich blushed a little, looking awkwardly over at Cadence. But Starlit Night nodded encouragingly, and after a moment, Twilight Morgan nodded hesitantly, and Cadence smiled a little. “Good. I'll share the energy with you that I can, then, and check you over from head-to-hoof.” The Twilight of this layer nodded a few times with a blush, clearly wanting to help, and Luna laughed quietly as she stood, saying softly: “Good. I am truly happy to see this, my friends... our poor Morgan does not always get the warmest of receptions, and Helheim knows she's a better pony than I ever was. And far better than Scrivener, too.” “That's something to be proud of.” Scrivener remarked mildly, and Luna gave him an amused look as the stallion awkwardly climbed to his own hooves, nodding a little. “Thank you,though. All of you. We couldn't have survived without your help.” “Nor could have we. Let me walk you back to your room.” Starlit Night said softly, and then she gave her sibling a soft smile as Princess Celestia gazed over at her quietly. “And please do sleep, big sister. I know you must not have slept for years now. But you well deserve the rest.” Celestia murmured a 'thank you,' and the ponies all stood and went their separate ways; as they half-followed Starlit Night, however, Luna couldn't help but notice that she seemed to want to take a longer route around to the rooms, even as she kept giving them almost-shy looks. She was the strangest amalgamation of her two sides that Luna had ever seen: on the one hoof, she was innocent, almost childish even now, and on the other, she clearly had all the cunning that Luna always associated with Nightmare Moon. Luna smiled after a moment, however, and then she said abruptly: “Thou art a trickster. It fits thee well, Starlit Night. Now come, speak freely with me. I owe thee my life.” “And I owe you mine.” Starlit Night replied softly, smiling and blushing a little. “Without you, I feel that I'd be locked away still... and precious few ponies ever showed me such kindness while I was... repressed and regressed.” Luna Brynhild only shrugged and smiled, as Scrivener laughed quietly and then winced a little, hobbling carefully along on three hooves, before Starlit Night asked softly: “Is there anything I can do for you? Any way I can help heal you... let me at least fetch new bandages for you and stay with you for a little while in your room.” “'Twould be appreciated, Night. But unfortunately, there is little else thou can do apart from share with us thy cherished company, but believe me when I say that is more than enough. Thou art among the most pleasant Nightmare Moon I have ever met... mine own is... less kind, and more monstrous in shape and stature than thou art.” Luna replied after a moment, nodding to the larger mare. “Well, as we discussed... I am not Nightmare Moon.” Starlit Night smiled after a moment, then hesitated before simply nodding in return and gesturing gently to the side. They turned down another hall, and Luna Brynhild was admittedly surprised when she realized only a few steps away from the door where they had arrived... but Starlit Night smiled again, saying quietly: “I think this might be more comfortable for you.” They entered what had been Princess Luna's quarters: toys were scattered over the floor, a coloring book was open here, and some other texts that varied from foal's stories to light romance novels lay in an uneven pile. Starlit Night's horn glowed as she laughed quietly to herself, quickly tidying the room up as she murmured: “I forgot what a mess I left this place in. And it's funny... I feel once more like a strong, capable adult, but I still want to play with these old toys.” “Oh, 'tis no shame in that. I color on paper almost every day.” Luna Brynhild remarked easily, winking over her shoulder at Starlit Night, who gave a smile in return before the sapphire mare turned and firmly bulled Scrivener towards the messy bed. The stallion staggered once on his bad hoof, letting out a loud groan of pain as he did so... but it wasn't the same raw, utter agony he remembered going through with his other hoof, even though it hurt stupendously. He thought that this one was transforming faster... maybe because he'd gone through it already, or maybe because he'd forced the transformation, he didn't know. All he knew was that he was glad the pain wasn't as bad, but he would be much gladder when the pain was over, as he rubbed slowly at the gooey bandages before Starlit Night approached and said softly: “Let me take a look at it.” “I...” Scrivener shifted uneasily, but the black-coated mare was already undoing the bandages, frowning a little as she removed them... and then winced slightly at the sight of the shattered hoof. It was broken into five distinct pieces that were slowly forming into uneven, rocky digits, caked with dark mire and black blood, and Starlit Night hesitated before she leaned slowly down as her horn glowed. Scrivener's shattered hoof steamed, and he cursed quietly under his breath in pain as much of the excess mire was burned away, before Starlit Night murmured uneasily: “This is the same substance produced by that creature we all fought, that the beasts were made of... mire, you called it?” “Or corruption or just... black goo. Yeah, I can produce it too. My body heals so fast because of it, and it gives me strength... it... it gives us both strength.” Scrivener glanced quietly over at Luna, and the mare smiled faintly even as she shifted almost as if ashamed, and both ponies looked down for a moment before the stallion said quietly: “We're not exactly good ponies.” There was silence for a few moments, and then Starlit Night reached up and took his broken hoof gingerly, gazing down at the stallion as she said softly: “When I pleaded to my sister that I wasn't the pony I once was, in spite of how I had simply... woken up one night, and found myself in this body again... she did not believe me. She forgot, out of fear and perhaps a little prejudice, that what we appear to be outside is not who we are on the inside. I look to be Nightmare Moon, and I can be cunning, I can be ruthless, and I am very willing to go to any lengths necessary to protect my friends, my family, the Crystal Kingdom or Equestria or any place where ponies seek to settle and live their lives in peace and harmony. “True harmony is balance, in all things. Not neutrality, not cold order, but some dark and some light. We are necessary... we tricksters, we darker ponies. We who safeguard the beautiful night.” Starlit Night leaned down, kissing Scrivener's claw tenderly, and the stallion blushed and smiled awkwardly up at her as Luna Brynhild nodded firmly, gazing warmly up at the mare. “Besides. I like you both. And I wonder how much of Thesis' powers you can mimic... and what you can do that he cannot.” Scrivener frowned in thought at this, looking down as Luna Brynhild grinned in approval up at Starlit Night. The mare was wiser, stronger, and played her role better than Luna had guessed... and she thought that even after they left this layer, no matter what happened, as long as Starlit Night and Princess Celestia remembered to work together, everything was going to be fine. Top ↑